UPDATE: Paramedics called to Riverside Prep

Friday

Aug 22, 2014 at 12:21 PMAug 22, 2014 at 5:30 PM

ORO GRANDE — Oro Grande School District officials confirmed that paramedics were called to Riverside Preparatory Middle School as a “cautionary measure” Friday afternoon after a student wrapped a headphone cable around his neck at lunchtime.Oro Grande School District Superintendent Heather Griggs said the student “never lost consciousness” but Principal Mark Andreasen called emergency services as a precautionary measure. Andreasen was steps away from the student when the incident occurred, Griggs said.“The principal did the right thing,” Griggs said. Griggs was concerned with the public “drawing conclusions” or connections to three Riverside Prep students who died earlier this year. Those three students died of apparent suicides while at their homes in a span of a few months.“This was a middle school student at lunchtime,” she said. “I don’t know what the child’s intent was. ... I would caution people from jumping to conclusions with a child. That’s not fair to that child.”Griggs said the student was talking and sitting up on his own immediately following the incident, and was “instantly” picked up by a parent who was called.“The student is not injured and is with family,” Griggs said. “But rumors quickly abounded.”Griggs said she believed there were “multiple reasons why a child at middle school age would do that in front of their friends.”Griggs said there were no reports of the student having been bullied.She said school officials also called an ambulance last week because a student was overheated from the sun.“Our worry is always the safety of the kids,” Griggs said. “If a child injures themselves in any way we call for emergency services.”Brooke Self may be reached at 760-951-6232 or BSelf@VVDailyPress.com. You can also follow her on Twitter at @BrookeSelf or @DPEduNews.